NFL says Triplette made wrong call

Cincinnati Bengals BenJarvus Green-Ellis dives in for a touchdown late in the second quarter of their game. Indianapolis Colts play the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday, December 8, 2013, afternoon at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati OH.
(Photo: Matt Kryger / The Star)

Dean Blandino, the NFL's head of officiating, said Tuesday evening on NFL Network's "Total Access'' that Triplette was wrong to reverse a second-quarter play at the goal line in the Indianapolis Colts' 42-28 loss at Cincinnati.

"It wasn't a correct call,'' Blandino said as he showed viewers several replays of the controversial play. "We made a mistake here.''

On fourth-and-goal at the Colts 1-yard line with 1:06 to play in the first half, Bengals running back BenJarvis Green-Ellis stumbled and the officials ruled he was down short of the goal line after being tripped by nose tackle Josh Chapman.

However, Triplette reversed the call on the field after reviewing the play. Instead of the Colts gaining possession and trailing 7-0, Cincinnati was awarded a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

Wrong, insisted Blandino.

He indicated it was difficult to determine if Chapman actually tripped Green-Ellis, but emphasized "there was not enough evidence to overturn the ruling on the field.''

He showed several replays of the play and offered "Josh Chapman is going to shoot in and potentially touch Green-Ellis on the foot there. Green-Ellis is going to stumble and go to the ground.

"The call on the field was that he was touched and he was down by contact with the ball short of the goal line. In order to overturn that there has to be indisputable visual evidence that the call on the field was incorrect. That's the standard.

"When we look at these angles, it's close. Don't think it's definitive either way. And when it's not definitive either way, that means the call on the field should stand. So we made a mistake here. This should not have been overturned. This should have been Indianapolis' ball . . . at the 1-yard line.''

Colts coach Chuck Pagano was asked at his Monday press conference if the NFL admitting Triplette made a mistake would serve as any consolation.

"Still 14-nothing at the half, right? So, no,'' he said.

Call Star reporter Mike Chappell at (317) 444-6830. You can follow him on Twitter at @mchappell51.